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NIAL FULLER Nial Fuller
Professional Trader, Author & Coach

3 Steps To Immediately Become A Successful Trader

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By in Forex Trading Blog March 22nd, 2016 | 22 Comments

successI already know what you’re thinking; the headline of this article is pretty bold. While it may be bold, but I assure you it’s not an exaggeration. I promise that if you read this entire article, think about it deeply and then actually implement the insight I’m about to share with you, you will see why the headline is no exaggeration.

Becoming a successful trader is not as difficult or elusive as you probably think right now. All that is required is several changes in your behavior and more importantly, in your thinking. I recommend reading this entire article through to the end because I believe the information I’m about to share might just be the ‘missing piece’ of the trading puzzle you have been trying to put together…

Step 1: Take the next week off from trading

This is an important first step to take if you want to immediately improve your trading and put a fast end to whatever trading problems you’ve recently been experiencing.

It’s very hard to objectively see the trading mistakes you have been making if you don’t take some time off from trading. So the first thing you need to do is exit all positions if you have any open and take the entire next trading week off from the market; do not be in any trades at all.

During this week, you are going to do a number of things, here they are in order of importance;

  1. Review and update / tweak your trading plan – If you haven’t been using your trading plan, that probably explains a lot about why you’ve been struggling recently in the market. So, get it out and update it; go through it and make sure it’s still what you want, if you don’t have one then you need to make one. If you don’t know where to start, then get my trading course because I show you how to make a trading plan within it.
  2. Shift your thinking – Soak up the feeling of not being in the market during your week off. Understand that THIS is how you should be feeling MOST of the time, that is to say, most of the time you should not be in the market. Most of the time you should be waiting patiently for high-probability trades to set up, in other words, you should trade like a crocodile. Understand that when you make the mental shift from thinking that you need to trade a lot to make money, to accepting that you need to be more patient and disciplined, you are getting closer to your goal of becoming a successful trader.
  3. Organize – I want you to organize wherever you trade from. If you have a trading office, organize it. If you don’t, then just organize your computer by cleaning out old files, etc. Next, organize your trading plan into a nice looking document; print it, laminate it if you want, just make it look professional and organized so you’re more likely to use it.
  4. Clean charts – If you haven’t already, take everything off your charts, that means all indicators etc. Set your charts up how I recommend here and before your week back trading, I want you to go through the markets you trade and add in the key chart levels BEFORE the markets open. You can learn how to do this in this recent article on how to draw support and resistance levels.

So, to recap, you should; take a full week off from trading to 1 – Review, update or make a trading plan if you don’t have one, 2 – Shift your thinking about trading from ‘needing’ to trade all the time to being a patient person who trades like a sniper, 3 – Organize your trading area, computer and trading plan, 4 – Set up clean indicator-free charts and draw in the key chart levels for the next week.

Step 2: Shift your definition of trading success

You will need to change your idea of ‘successful trading’ from one of ‘fast money, fast cars, etc.’ to that of learning to trade properly and following your trading method and trading plan. Slow and steady wins the trading race, not fast and impulsive. What you need to understand is that slow but steady progress and gains each month is what constitutes successful trading; the sooner you understand this and start behaving in a way that reflects that understanding, the sooner you will be a successful trader.

Stop thinking about the market as ‘constant opportunities’; I think of trading more as ‘a window to potential money-making opportunities, but with many traps and high risk’, so you have to be careful to not get caught. Through education, screen time and experience, you will eventually learn how to not get caught in bad trade signals and the many ‘traps’ that occur in the market each week. That doesn’t mean you won’t have losing trades, it just means you will be avoiding unnecessary losses that are born out of not being prepared and not being in the right mental place with your trading.

Step 3: Stop gambling and learn how to trade properly

There are basically two ways to approach trading; randomly like a gambler, and then there’s the correct way, which is like a skilled and patient market analyst.

Sadly, most people end up trading like a gambler, no matter how hopeful they are when they start out. Trading is a very easy thing to become addicted to, and once you become addicted to being in a trade, you have officially become a gambler in the market, whether you know it or not.

In order to avoid becoming a trading gambler, it really does take a conscious effort on your behalf. If you simply drift along and trade randomly with no proper training or trading plan, you’re going to end up gambling, it’s essentially just human nature and how we are wired. Successful trading takes more effort than what you might be used to giving, it takes strategic thinking and planning. I’m not saying it is ‘difficult’ or requires you be extremely intelligent, I’m just saying it takes more objective analysis and planning than what most people might think or be inclined to do.

The best thing to do is to learn how to trade in a simple, minimalistic manner using raw price action data. Successful trading begins with learning to trade properly, and if you haven’t yet learned how to do that then you need to make it a priority because it’s going to be your trading foundation. Once that foundation is built, you can build a trading plan from it and implement the mental ‘shifts’ I discussed in this lesson. If you do that, successful trading isn’t a matter of ‘how’ or ‘what’, it will just be a matter of making it happen and following the ‘blue print’ I’ve laid out  for you here.

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Nial Fuller

About Nial Fuller

is a Professional Trader, Investor & Author who is considered ‘The Authority’ on Price Action Trading. His blog is read by over 200,000+ followers and he has taught 25,000+ students since 2008. In 2016, Nial won the Million Dollar Trader Competition. Checkout Nial's Professional Trading Course here.
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  1. Odwa

    Thank you Mr

    Reply
  2. Thobile Msomi

    Thank you Sir

    Reply
  3. Collin

    I have taken up the challenge. the whole of last week i did not look at the charts at all but i must say it was tempting although my full time job helped me to be discipline but after work and before work my mind was playing games with me. I followed your suggestions, cleaned up my charts, organized my things, re-looked at my motives and goals and mind set just as you have suggested. Tomorrow i am starting on new clean,indicator free charts with only two levels, below and above the price. One thing that i experienced most was that i was feeling kinda bored and that i am negleting my goals of making money, i wanted to look at the chart to fill up this space of doing nothing because of thinking that i need to work hard as in everything in life thus i must be trading all the time or in one or two trade/trades.

    Thank you

    Reply
  4. Jared

    Nial you’re really an impact. Thanks

    Reply
  5. Aderemi

    Nial, You are a father of all., your articles are always stand out among the rest. Each time you add value to my trading experience.even though you advice a week off platform I am taking a month off which has allow me to discover my self, if people would listen to your piece of advice it is going to help newbie a lot. Keep the momentum.

    Reply
    • A K M Arifur Rahman

      Nail you are really great. Your article really helpful for trader. Thank you for you are share your experience with ours. In Forex market maximum people ate losing money. And also they are thinking is not possible make money from here. But when we see you we will get hope. You are really great. I believe Forex market can make money.

      Reply
  6. richadi36

    People say only 10 % of the people who come to Forex will become successfull (professional) traders, it means only 10 % people can shift and change their thinking about trading?…

    Thanks Nial, brilliant article.

    Reply
  7. galen

    Thanks Nial. As usual your article is timely, I have stepped away from trading for the past few weeks and just return to analyse my plan.

    Reply
  8. Mohammed

    That is great

    Reply
  9. Akeel

    Spot on. Just what I really need to do, thank you

    Reply
  10. Pat

    Nice article Nial, I learnt alot from it.

    Reply
  11. Lawrence

    Thanks Nail for your good work.

    Reply
  12. MUNGE GATHURI

    Thanks a lot on your realistic become a nd simple way of explaining on how to become a seasoned trader.

    Reply
  13. isdorenice

    I really appreciate your lecture, i wish there will be a better way to thank you, Thanks a million times, Gracias

    Reply
  14. Idris

    This is far the best article i ever read in forex trading. Thank you nial for this wonderful yet priceless arlicle you’ve shared. you have changed my entire perspective about trading forex. I will surely join you soon. God bless you.

    Reply
  15. Teboho

    Good read… I always improve from your teachings so thank you Mr Nial

    Reply
  16. Joe

    Good practical advise. Used it myself. Unfortunately the key (Our Mind) is what makes most fail. Like you said. We are all wired or to put it another way, we all have bad habits. So no matter what we do, we will not be successful traders until we change our bad habits. My long observation of traders has led me to believe that mots people are not able to change their bad habits. I like Nial and his contribution to the forex community. If only he had a way to rewire our minds. Maybe a blue pill ?

    Reply
  17. Jan

    Spot on Nial. Gr8 advice

    Reply
  18. Kingsly

    Excellent piece as always. Results come not just in reading but in strictly abiding and implementing these wonderful insights to the later.

    Reply
  19. Gof J

    This article is one of my all time favorites alongside the one on trading simple and trading like a sniper.
    Developing a “continuously” successful trading strategy and plan is like creating an invention, it requires a lot of critical thinking, mental work and planning. Unfortunately not everyone has the time or patience to go through all of that.
    Keep up the good work Nial
    Thanks

    Reply
  20. Gustav

    Nial, this here is one of your most revealing article yet. Honest and straight the point.

    It doesn’t get better than this. Thank you Nial.

    Reply
  21. jalal

    Great article . thanks?

    Reply